Nobody needs to be told
starting Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, or Calvin Johnson is
a good idea. Duh, right? You can’t have studs at every position,
though, unless you’re in the shallowest of leagues. This
is where the Shot Caller comes in. Need help deciding which bargain
basement QB to use and which to ignore on Rodgers’ bye week?
Let’s talk. Looking for solutions at running back because
Peterson is a game-time decision? Look no further. Need to know
which of your unproven targets to start and which to sit since
you ignored Megatron and went RB-QB-Jimmy Graham in your first
three rounds? I’m your huckleberry. Past results may not
guarantee future success, but I believe ignoring them entirely
can ruin your Sundays in a hurry. Read on for a little history
and, hopefully, a little sage advice..

Note: Fantasy points
based on FF Today’s default scoring system.

Bye Weeks: N/A

Grab a Helmet

Stafford has been under 20 fantasy points
only once this season.

Matthew
Stafford v. GB: Until Philip Rivers and Alex Smith lit it up
late, last Sunday’s morning games (that’s what we call them out
West) featured some really marginal quarterback play. The other
14 QB starters who kicked off the Sunday slate averaged just 216
passing yards per man and tallied only 14 cumulative TD passes vs.
11 total picks. Stafford contributed across the board, throwing
up all kinds of crooked numbers against Tampa (297 yards, three
TDs, and four INTs). Luckily, that still translated into 26.2 fantasy
points, good for the third highest total at the position. It isn’t
very pretty sometimes and his carelessness is costing Detroit games,
but Stafford is a bona fide fantasy superstar in 2013. His worst
outing of the year came against the Pack in Week 5, but he was without
Megatron that day and Megatron makes all the difference. Start him
on Thanksgiving Day.

Ryan
Fitzpatrick @ IND: If you wanna know what Stafford’s career
might have looked like minus the best receiver on planet Earth,
take a gander at Fitzpatrick’s NFL oeuvre. The Harvard product has
three 3,000-yard, 20+-TD seasons to his credit, but has never been
terribly successful (a 24-44-1 career record), largely because he’s
turned the ball over too often (a 99-85 TD-to-INT ratio over eight
and a half seasons). In other words, he can post the digits, but
you never really know for whom he’s posting them, the good guys
or the bad guys. Sound familiar? Fitz hasn’t really had an elite
receiver to work with, in his defense, and doesn’t have one this
year, either. He is taking better care of the ball, however, and
is still posting very useful numbers. He’s averaging almost 270
yards per game over his last three starts and sports a stellar 5-to-0
TD-to-pick ratio. You could do lots worse and so could Tennessee.

Nick
Foles v. ARZ: All this talk of iffy win-loss records and erratic
production kinda makes us pine for a guy who wins ballgames, doesn’t
give the football away, AND produces at a very high level consistently.
If that doesn’t describe Nick Foles in his first several starts
as the Philly triggerman, I don’t know what does. Foles has won
four of five this season, is averaging just over 260 yards and a
couple TD strikes per start, and has yet to throw an interception
in 2013. If you disregard the clunker vs. Dallas in Week 7, he’s
also averaging about 34 fantasy points per start, which would be
the very best mark in the league, even above Manning and Brees.
No wonder the deliberately short-sighted Chip Kelly finally committed
to Foles for the rest of the season this week. You should too, even
if the matchup with Arizona’s vastly underrated defense isn’t necessarily
a terrific one.

Grab a Clipboard

Matt
McGloin @ DAL: McGloin was slightly less awesome in his second
career start against the Titans last Sunday (260 yards, a score,
and a pick), a fact that shouldn’t have been terribly surprising.
He is, after all, a former college walk-on (the first to start
for Penn St. since 1949, incidentally) and undrafted free agent
who’s only getting a chance because the Raiders’ original plan
at the QB position, Matt Flynn, didn’t pan out and because their
plan B guy, Terrelle Pryor, couldn’t stay healthy. Pryor is now,
it appears, meaning the Oakland brain trust is choosing McGloin
over him deliberately in an attempt to see what they’ve got at
the position for next season. Not much, I’d answer, unless they
coach Pryor up and tailor the game plan to his considerable athletic
strengths. McGloin is a great story, but I highly doubt we’ll
be talking about him much come 2014. Pass.

Chad
Henne @ CLE: Henne’s another Pennsylvania product by way of
the Big 10 who’s also managed to secure himself one of the 32
starting NFL QB jobs. Maybe “secure” isn’t the right word since
he’ll almost certainly be moving on at season’s end or, at the
very most, keeping the seat warm for whomever the Jaguars scare
up next to steer their horrible franchise into the mountain. To
his credit, Henne has led Jacksonville to two wins in his last
three starts. You wouldn’t know it by looking at his figures,
though. He hasn’t thrown a TD pass in either win and hasn’t topped
the 17-point mark in any GAME this season. That’s important to
note because 35 other field generals are AVERAGING more than 17
points per game this season. Jeff Tuel and Scott Tolzien are two
of them, so…we done here?

Mike
Glennon @ CAR: This is the third time I’ve recommended
a sit-down for Glennon this season, but the first time I’ve
actually hesitated. What gives me pause is the way the kid’s
been playing of late, seemingly against all odds. A month or so
ago, the Bucs hadn’t won a single game and had just lost
their most important offensive player, Doug Martin, to injury.
Naturally, they immediately went on a three-game winning streak,
spearheaded by Glennon’s accurate passing, and probably
saved coach Greg Schiano’s job in the process, assuming
they don’t close out the campaign by completely flaming
out. Feel-good vibes to the contrary, the Week 13 matchup looks
like trouble. If anyone’s hotter than the Bucs, it’s
their division rivals, Carolina. If the salty Panthers’
D has anything to say about it, Glennon will look more like the
greenhorn he is than the savvy vet he’s been acting like
this coming Sunday. Temper those expectations.